Subject: Fwd: 5 German states fail to respect human right of access to information, found for 84% of the worlds population
From: Walter Keim
Date: 30.08.2012 14:57
To: "Mr. Frank La Rue, UN Special Rapporteur" <freedex@ohchr.org>
Dear Mr. La Rue,
I would like to draw your attention to access to public information
in Germany.
New EU members have to adopt Access to Information (ATI) laws.
However founding members do not. The lack of ATI laws is not even
noticed. Both the EU Commission, the EU Parliament and the EU
Fundamental Rights Agency do not help and write that this is the
duty of the Council of Europe [B].
However the Council of Europe's
unit GRECO "well established mechanisms" failed to
secure the human right of access to information necessary in a
democratic society [A].
84% of the worlds population live in states with ATI laws or ATI
secured in constitutions.
Therefore I hope the Universal
Periodic Review of Germany in May/June 2013 will address this
problem and would like to ask for the support of the Special
Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom
of opinion and expression.
Germany fails to respect human right of access to
information, found for 84% of the worlds population
"The right to
access information held by public authorities is a fundamental
human right which should be given effect at the national level
through comprehensive legislation (for example Freedom of
Information Acts) based on the principle of maximum disclosure,
establishing a presumption that all information is accessible
subject only to a narrow system of exceptions." Joint Declaration by the UN, ODCE and OAS Special Mandates for Protecting Freedom of Expression
Walter Keim, Email:walter.keim@gmail.com
Torshaugv. 2 C
N-7020 Trondheim, den 30. August 2012
EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA)
Rahlgasse 3
A-1060 Vienna
Austria
Copy: UN Special Rapporteur freedom of opinion and expression,
OSCE, PACE, EU Parliament (Petition
No. 0748/2012): GRECO (CoE) failed to uphold human
rights and democratic standards, therefore the EUP has to do it
5 German states fail to respect human right of access to
information, found for 84% of the worlds population
Sir/Madam,
thank you for your answer 29.
March 2007 about the lack of access to information in
Germany.
FRA rejected 29. March 2007 to support access to information in EU
member states:
The European Commission and/or the Council of
Europe play a role in the human rights field. The European
Commission is empowered to deal with breaches of Community law
in relation to fundamental rights, while the Council of Europe
has well established human rights mechanisms.
Please find enclosed that Council of Europe's unit GRECO "well
established mechanisms" failed to secure the human right
of access to information necessary in a democratic society [A].
The Council of Europe has been informed, that the EU Commission,
EU Parliament and EU Fundamental Rights Agency do not support
access to information rights in member states [B].
5 out of 16 German Federal States, with more then half of the
German population lack a general operational access to information
laws or constitutional protection regime, which is found for 84%
of the world population.
Are fundamental rights standards for access to information for EU
member states so low that a member EU state lacks respect of a
human right enjoyed by 5.9 Billion inhabitants 84 % of the worlds
population?
In addition the federal Freedom of Information law in Germany is
not in line with European, international and democratic standards.
5.5 Billion people i e. 78 % of the worlds population have better
laws.
Access to documents of public administration is a human right
according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR)
[1, 4,
5] and jurisdiction of
the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) [6] on the basis
of the European Convention for Human Rights (ECHR) [2]
and is seen as a precondition for democracy and important in the
fight of corruption. OSCE supports access to information [11].
UN, OSCE and AOS confirm in their Joint Declaration by the Three
Special Mandates for Protecting Freedom of Expression 6. December
2004, that Access to Information is a human right [3]:
"The right to access information held by public
authorities is a fundamental human right which should be given
effect at the national level through comprehensive legislation
(for example Freedom of Information Acts) based on the
principle of maximum disclosure, establishing a presumption
that all information is accessible subject only to a narrow
system of exceptions."
Germany does not respect this human right and has problems with
corruption prevention:
more than 115 states (http://right2info.org/laws)
with more then 5.9 billion inhabitants adopted
FOI laws or provisions in constitutions. 5 German states with
half of the population lack FOI laws.
Germany did not ratify the Criminal Law Convention on
Corruption and does not follow Recommendation Rec(2003)4 on
common rules against corruption in the funding of political
parties and electoral campaigns of the Council of Europe as
GRECO (Group of States against Corruption) suggested 9
December 2009. Germany's answer 29. June 2012 shows that no
progress has been made [12].
Germany is the only state in Europe which has not ratified
any of these to conventions against corruption.
This embarrassing situation is due to the German press not
informing citizens and the public about this situation [7]
and therefore many citizens still vote for the conservative party
CDU/CSU, the only party in the civilized world denying its
citizens the fundamental human right of access to information
necessary for a living democracy [8].
It is obvious that this denial of a fundamental human right is a
misuse of national sovereignty unknown in other democracies
worldwide.
Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union reads:
"The Union is founded on the values of respect
for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of
law and respect for human rights, including the rights of
persons belonging to minorities."
When will EU take human rights and democracy in member states
seriously? When will the "guarantee for the
principles of democracy and respect for human rights" according
toCom 2002/0247andCOM(2005)280 become reality? Will
the EU Fundamental Rights Agency really continue to accept the
violation of the human right of access to information in member
state Germany? A human right necessary and respected in all other
democracies.
